Sakura
by Aria-chan09
Summary: Sasuke isn't sure that it's Sakura, so he's asking her questions using any word he can think of with Sakura in it. Some fluff...Twoshot w Side Story[COMPLETE!]
1. Chapter 1

**Sakura**

Years before, Naruto, Sai, Kakashi and I had accomplished the task of killing Orochimaru. But Kabuto had also refused to tell us where Sasuke was, even as he breathed his last. I personally destroyed all that bass's terd's belongings, my fist clenched as I tried to tell Sasuke to come home through telepathy. I knew it wouldn't work, but it kept me from doing something stupid.

We returned home, defeated again at bring Sasuke back. But one thing did cheer us up slightly, if it could be called cheering. We no longer had to worry about Sasuke being possessed by Orochimaru.

But… that was years ago, and Sasuke hadn't returned in all that time. I was now in ANBU, and the rest of my age group was as well.

Tsunade-sama had just recently told me that my mission was to escort a genin back to Konoha; they had lost contact with him, but he had recently contacted them saying his mission was complete, and he would be waiting at a certain place.

I had not thought much of the odd look in Tsunade's eyes, but when I saw the tall man at the place, I understood. After all, Sasuke had never taken the Chuunin exam.

…….

I stood up, shaking my wet hair. I hurriedly dried it, and my short pink hair was tucked back into its covering. My hair being the unusual color it was, I hid it for certain missions. Tsunade-sama had said I might wish to cover it for this mission, which had confused me. But now I thanked her repeatedly in my mind for her thoughtfulness, because Sasuke had no idea that the person who had come to get him was I, and I did not intend to let him know. I wasn't prepared to deal with Sasuke as myself just yet.

As I walked back to the campfire where he waited, my mind continued to wander.

My childish infatuation had faded, but the moment I had seen him, I'd crumpled to the ground.

When he'd turned around and saw me on the ground, he smirked, still that same smirk I had known so well. And it was more potent now then it had been then, but that was simply because I hadn't seen him in such a long time I told myself.

"_I'm guessing you were expecting some young kid." Quieter, he added, "Well, at least I'm still allowed to be a ninja…"_

_I remained silent behind my mask as I stood and brushed myself off. But I wondered if he'd finally found out that once you've gotten your life long goal of revenge, you don't know what to do with yourself. (Itachi had been reported dead a few months ago)_

"_So did you kill him?" I asked offhandedly._

"_Yeah." _

……..

Sasuke felt his escort returning. He knew she a she, but that was about all. It was hard not to notice the fact because she was dressed like a woman, and though not revealing, it showed her curves.

As she passed him, he smelled something sweet, something he hadn't smelled in a long, long time.

Where…. Oh yes. The last time he'd smelled it was when Sakura had tried to stop him from leaving Konoha. It might be Sakura here now.

"_I wouldn't doubt it,"_ He thought without emotion. The little jolt his heart gave was simply nothing.

Deciding to test his idea, he instantly formed a plan. It would take a while, but he had time. Casually he sat back from the fire, and spoke nonchalantly.

"Do you like _sakura_meshi?"**1**

The woman gave looked at him. When she slowly said "I don't eat or drink anything with alcohol in it," he heard the surprise at the question.

"Aa." Sasuke answered. It was a similar answer, but it gave him no answers. "Smart."

(Flashback) 

_Kakashi was looking at the logs in front of him that were supposed to be the fire, thinking of the last dish he'd had before the mission. From the corner of his eye he saw Sakura's pink hair._

"_Sakura, have you ever had sakurameshi? After all, it has your name in it." Kakashi asked._

_Sakura shook her head absently. "No, I don't like alcohol, it reduces your reasoning. Could you help baka Naruto figure out how to start the fire?"_

_Kakashi grinned, and showed Naruto how to start a fire. _

_Sasuke remained silent, watching as Naruto pointed a finger at him, and shouted something that Sasuke didn't acknowledge._

_End Flashback_

"Well, goodnight," Sakura told Sasuke, settling down to sleep.

……..

"Have you tried _sakura_niku**2**?" Sasuke questioned the next morning as they whizzed through the treetops.

Sakura choked, and replied emphatically, "No! What is it with you and random questions about food?"

"It was a joke." His tone still said _baka._

"Oh." Sakura felt like a genin again, when Sasuke had pointed out something obvious that she hadn't noticed. Back then she'd always felt a burden to the group. But now she knew she was a great help; those days of being a tag-along were gone.

But Sasuke had never made jokes. What had given him a sense of humor Sakura wondered.

She stiffened and tried to calm her heart when he moved closer to her, but they both kept moving.

"You feel them?" he asked her; so quietly she wasn't sure he'd spoken. Pretending to sneeze, her head jerked forward in a decisive nod.

"Bless you," Sasuke said in a normal voice.

"Thanks," Sakura responded. She heard him chuckling. When she looked at him, heard him mutter again in that quiet tone, "Great. Make a decoy?" he suggested.

_(Flashback)_

_Sakura was excited, another mission with Sasuke-kun! _

_Kakashi looked at her, quivering with excitement. "Sakura, why don't you make a decoy illusion for us?" He asked. "I want to see what you come up with before we leave later today."_

_Sakura nodded, and concentrated. Just as she was about to form it, she heard Naruto comment, "I bet she's good at making decoys, because isn't another meaning for Sakura decoy?"  
_

_Her eyes had flown open, but she didn't stop or falter._

"_Very good Sakura," Kakashi-sensei told her, once the decoy had disappeared and she'd come back._

_(End Flashback)_

Wondering at the sudden memory, she concentrated and produced one. Sasuke had pretended to drop something in some bushes and she and Sasuke landed in them.

Almost immediately, replicas of her and Sasuke left the bushes. They saw two genins hurry quietly after them.

Sakura's eyes crinkled in amusement, remembering those days when she'd try to track older ninja from Konoha. She'd thought she did pretty well, but now she knew better.

She turned to Sasuke to find him staring after the genins, an odd look on his face. Only because she'd been with him so much before, could she begin to guess at it.

He actually had cared about them, she thought in shock. That look was one of remorse and nostalgia.

"The _sakura_banas**3** are lovely today," Sasuke commented out of the blue. Sure, he was being talkative, but he was not going to come out and ask if it was Sakura.

"Hmm? Oh yes, they are. I love Sakura's; my favorite past time is looking at them in bloom." Sakura didn't mention that she'd often wondered if Sasuke liked sakura blossoms.

Sasuke glanced at her. She hadn't caught on to it yet. Since he'd come up with his plan, his comments had all had one thing in common. But there was still time.

"_I wonder…why does he ask all these odd questions? And why does he… oh no, it couldn't be that he'd guessed it was me! I don't know what to think about him. Give me a break; I just re-met this guy yesterday after all these years. It hasn't even been a full day yet."_

Suddenly he turned to her, and reached towards her. Her emerald eyes widened as he slowly removed her mask and hair covering at the same time.

"Sakura," he whispered. "Why'd you hide that it was you?"

"S-sasuke-kun," she stuttered.

"Is it because you don't care about me anymore?"

TTTTTTTTT

It's my FIRSTEST EVER Naruto fic! XD AndI plan to write more, maybe a Neji x tenten once I'm done with this story. (First I have to finish Borrow Me A Nightmare though. Tis an awesome Fruba story!)

A friend showed me a site that you could type a word in either the English to Japanese or Japanese to English blank, (without needing any Japanese language things, it's romanji and English) and I typed in Sakura. Since I didn't have exact checked, it had a bunch of words with Sakura in it, as well as Sakura. I used these words for this story!

So if anything is wrong, please tell me, I have limited understanding of Japanese language! **Extremely** limited!

**1 **Sakurameshi - a dish of rice boiled with soy sauce and sake

**2 **sakuraniku – horse meat.

**3 **sakurabana – cherry blossom


	2. Chapter 2

EDIT 7/5/06: I tell you peoples, if I don't get over this thing of kisses, I'd never update! (That's why the last version of this chapter was a cliffhanger. I just couldn't write that kiss….) SO!

Now this story has a kiss, written by my good friend XxnoStalgiaxX ! (thank you SO MUCH li-chan!) I'll mark where she wrote and where I picked up with ttttttttttttt.

****

**NOTE: **Stuff in () **_isn't_** my comments; it's still the person thinking. It's just a side thought and then they get back to what they were thinking before. Does that make sense? ;;

**Sakura **

Sasuke'd thought that as soon as she saw him, Sakura would hug the life out of him, and once again proclaim her undying love for him. Actually, it had just been the impression he'd had in the back of his mind. He knew better than to expect things to remain the same.

When he thought back to when Sakura and Naruto had come after him... at least Kabuto had stopped him from destroying them. In his lust for power to defeat his brother, his mind had been clouded.

His brain fast-forwarded to when he'd killed his older brother. As he stared at the man, the thought came to him, _"What now?" _

And he'd had no idea. He'd been empty because he didn't have anything to work for, to look forward to.

It had been a long time before images he'd long suppressed came back to him. He'd gotten so good at not thinking about them, that when they finally came, they poured.

Sakura's bright smile, Naruto's insults, Kakashi and that perverted book.

Sakura proclaiming her love for him as tears ran down her cheeks, Sakura hitting Naruto on the head for something.

Naruto saying repeatedly that he _would_ become the Hokage, Naruto fighting to bring him back.

Kakashi telling him that revenge wouldn't bring him fulfillment to his life.

In a daze, he'd sent a message to the Hokage. He'd been surprised to find that he was able to return to Konoha. There would be repercussions of his actions of course; ANBU members watching him, things like that.

Tsunade had also informed him that he was still a genin, did he wish to be registered in the upcoming chuunin exam?

(It must be Naruto's doing; he'd badgered Tsunade until she agreed without consulting the council. He could do it to. That guy had been a tick in his side even after he'd left.)

But all the talk back and forth hadn't mattered except that it meant he'd come back. He'd lived only to return, to see if there was somehow a way that he could see if his old team would ever forgive him; to see if he could make a life again.

_……… _

_"Is it because you don't care about me anymore?" _

She shook her head vigorously. "NO! It's not that, it's just…." Her voice faded, as her mind struggled to get used to the new Sasuke.

_"I'd have thought that he'd be even more emotionless now than before. Maybe…maybe he's looser, more normal now because he's got nothing he needs to work for; nothing to consume his concentration and time." _

Sasuke sighed, and handed her the covering and her mask back. Sakura had noticed it to. Naruto suddenly landed by them and his fist headed for Sasuke.

"Oi, dobe," / "Sasuke teme!"

"Can't you two ever stop fighting?" Queried Kakashi, a foot and hand keeping the two males from each other as he continued to read his book.

Sasuke chuckled, and Naruto hugged him in a horrendously tight bear hug.

"Sasuke you teme!" Naruto exclaimed.

Sakura cried. Kakashi stared intently at his book, but you could tell he wassmiling to.

"Good to see you again Sasuke." Kakashi told Sasuke,pryingNaruto offand shaking Sasuke's hand.

"Aww, Sakura-chan don't cry!" Naruto whined at her. "Sasuke'll think that you haven't changed at all!" He paused, thinking over this for a second.

"Then again, maybe part of that's a good thing! Hehe" He grinned and clapped a startled Sasuke on the back. "Wish ya luck Sasuke!"

…….

When Sakura had hid her identity, he'd thought that it might be that they didn't want him back. But her protests, and Naruto and Kakashi coming so quickly to them had helped to dispel this idea.

So here, he was again, looking up at the moon.

He wasn't living in his old home; Sakura had lent him her guesthouse until they'd fixed up the Uchiha place. The guesthouse was actually her old woodshed that she'd fixed up. Naruto's place was probably still full of ramen; Kakashi would probably be reading his book still. Ick, give him a cave any day!

Preferably a cave with Sakura, wait NO! N-O spells no, and no dirty thoughts! (Kakashi sensei how dare you suggest such things when Sakura offered to let him stay at her place!)

He stood and walked to the window, and looked out at the Sakura tree. As he watched the leaves being tossed in the wind, it reminded him again of that night he'd left.

He grimaced and went back to his bed, trying to sleep, which was what he normally did at this time of night.

His foot bumped a basket, and he looked at it, and then looked behind it. Baskets of something were stacked on top of each other, taking up half the room.

The one by his foot contained things that triggered memories of all the missions he'd had with Team 7. But after that, it changed.

The baskets that didn't have jars of garden food, gardening tools and medicinal herbs, held random objects that he couldn't figure out, and he sat staring at them.

A knock at the door had him in the rafters, looking out the window to find it was day already.

The door creaked open tentatively, and a sleepy looking Sakura walked in, dressed in a loose red shirt and long black shorts, obviously her nightclothes. She rubbed her eyes and looked around.

"Sasuke?" she'd noticed that the bed was empty, and her heart lurched. Her errand of getting more ingredients for breakfast was forgotten.

She sat down on the floor and stared at his bed for a while, controlling her breathing.

"Sasuke… I was going to help you clean your old place up! You BETTER not have gone training with Naruto and left me to do it alone!" she muttered, trying to keep worry back. Had he run off again? No, it was probably Naruto had gotten him for training already. She'd ask him now, as soon as she changed.

She stood and turned around, about to walk to the door. Sasuke dropped from the rafters by his pack and grabbed a shirt, wondering at his hesitation of startling her.

He found himself pinned the wall by several kunai before he could even stick his arms in. Icy green eyes glared into his. (Maybe his hesitation had been wise.)

"Oh! It's you Sasuke!" Sakura said, her eyes instantly becoming softer and warm.

"Eh heeeeeh…. I'll go make breakfast now," Sakura said, noticing his lack of shirt. "Here, let me get these…" She pulled the kunai out, and rushed out the door.

Sasuke finished putting on his shirt, and strolled out the door.

…..

"And that's how I learned that technique!" Naruto finished. "I usually use a log or a rock to replace me. Sorry bout that!" Sasuke didn't say anything. He would have, except…

_Flashback _

_"Oh oh oh oh YEAH! I remember that!" Naruto exclaimed. _

_The group was walking to Sasuke's old place to start cleaning, when Ino joined them. Sakura and Ino had been discussing Sai, who was on a mission currently. Ino had made the comment, "Well from the time he first saw me, he thought I was gorgeous. Remember?" _

_Naruto continued. "And Sai had called you, Sakura, a H-A-g… NO SAKURA-CHAN! IT WASN'T ME!" Naruto ducked, and Sasuke, who'd been standing behind Naruto talking to Kakashi ducked as well. But Naruto had done something, which pushed Sasuke right into Sakura's fist. _

_End Flashback _

"I'm sooo sorry Sasuke-kun!" Sakura repeated, walking beside the stretch Kakashi and Naruto carried. Sasuke's eyes flicked to Sakura, trying to say something, without moving anything else.

Translation: "Where'd you learn to hit like _that!_"

Sakura had thought she'd been pummeling Naruto, but after the fifth punch, she'd realized her mistake. It didn't mean that he wasn't in horrible pain!

"Here, it's behind my house," Sakura said, showing Naruto and Kakashi where to put Sasuke down. She sat down by the stretcher and smiled at him.

"You'll be fit as a fiddle in a sec!" She proclaimed, producing a myriad of bottles. Sasuke's eyes widened. They were going to sting like heck! There was a few liquids he recognized, from when Kabuto had showed him some basic medical skills.

Neither of them heard Naruto's voice as he and Kakashi walked away."

"Kakashi sensei you owe me! You said that they'd be sleeping together last night, and he's not even in the same HOUSE!"

………

"Finally…" Sakura murmured, tying up the last bandage. She flopped backwards onto the floor.

"Ouch."

She grabbed the thing under her head, to find it was _that_ basket. The one that held a bunch of those leaves from that night… she sat up and stared at them, remembering. But, he was back now. On that happy thought, she fell asleep, still sitting up, and clutching a few of the leaves.

Sasuke woke up, and stared at the ceiling. He didn't hurt anymore. Did Sakura fix him up? It had sounded like she was going to.

He now knew that if Yamato hadn't stepped in between the onrushing Sakura and himself that one day they'd found him, he would've been brought back to Konoha then. He hadn't believed Sakura could do anything to him then. In his mind, he'd still seen her as a weakling whose strong point was genjutsu.

A sniffling had him looking to his side. Sakura sat, looking through the baskets from before, and looking at a bunch of dried up leaves.

"Sakura…" he whispered.

She didn't move, only released the leaves and started crying even more.

"Sasuke-kun come back!" she wailed.

He climbed out of bed and crept cautiously towards her.

He sat down cautiously beside her, and shook her gently.

"Sakura?"

"Kakashi-sensei! He left! He wouldn't listen to me… I couldn't do anything!" Sakura said.

"I'm not Kakashi, Sakura."

Sakura suddenly buried her face into his chest.

"Wha? Sakura!"

…….

Sakura suddenly woke up. She'd been looking at all the things she'd collected. They were from the missions she'd had when Team 7 was whole, and those missions from when she'd tried to find Sasuke. She must've fallen asleep…

"Sakura, what are you doing?" came Sasuke's deep voice. Only, it didn't come from behind her where his bed was. It came from right by her left ear, and was _very_ close.

She looked up, startled. His wide eyes were right in front of hers. She realized that she was hugging him, to her extreme embarrassment.

Gasping, she released him and tried to shove herself back, but Sasuke's arms stayed around her.

"What was that all about, hmm?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"I-I don't know! I wasn't awake and I can't remember what the dream was." Liar. "Would you let me go now?" Sakura whispered back.

He ignored her. Instead, of letting go entirely, on arm tightened, and the other came up to grasp a lock of her hair. Sasuke murmured,

"I always wondered what it felt like. I knew it smelled too tempting though." He looked at her again and smirked. "Yet another reason I pushed you away."

"Uh-huh…" Sakura said weakly.

"But it doesn't mean that I have to now." Sasuke leaned in closer.

"Sakura…"

tttttttttttttt

...he gently cupped my chin under his calloused hands, and stared intently at my face. I don't know why, but all of a sudden, my infatuation, which I thought had long gone, came rushing back to me like a gush of a river as I looked into his gem-like eyes. I noted how incredibly handsome he'd become; his eyes, his prominent cheekbones, the smooth curve of his jaw, his inviting lips...I was too busy observing the tiny details of his face to notice that he had gotten closer to me, our noses half a centimeter apart. When I DID get around to noticing this, I blushed madly, my already tomato-red face now dark scarlet.

Sasuke's lips hovered above mine. He hesitated, probably wondering if what he was doing was safe, and then, his lips, slowly, caressed my own. I always dreamed of how good it would feel if I kissed him, and it was a heck of a  
lot better than I had imagined….

tttttttttttt

On a sigh of pleasure, he murmured,

"Sakura? Can you forgive me?"

I pulled away and smiled brilliantly at him. As I answered, I ran my fingers through his hair.

"Of course Sasuke."

………

"Ero-senin! What are you doing?" Naruto demanded, landing lightly on the roof of Sasuke's temporary home.

"Shhhh! I think he's about to propose!" Jiraiya hushed Naruto, scribbling away.

"ai yai yai!" Naruto groaned, holding his face in his hands as he sat down. He looked up.

"Ero-sennin these are my best friends! How am I supposed to explain to them how I let you put them in Icha Icha!"

"They don't read it do they?" Jiraiya asked distractedly.

"Good point."

……..

"Sakura will you marry me?"

She didn't say anything, but resumed kissing him senseless. No words needed.

TTTTTTTTTTT

Was that better Ana-chan? I thank you bunches for insisting on changing it! (I didn't rewrite it all, but you DID say that a kiss would've made it all better. So…)

I have a SasuSaku video on YouTube (the link is on my profile) …hint hint (what do ya mean hint, it's obvious!)

Please review!

Arigato to everybody who DID review the first time!

Ja ne! Aria-chan


	3. SasuSaku Kawaii Side Story

Ok! People who have this story on story alert, **_TAKE IT OFF! _**I can't say I'll do anything, but it just bugs me that I say the story is done with and so many people still have it on alerts.

Don't expect this from my other stories either! If I say it's done, it means it's done unless something drastically changes my mind.

**Side Story!**

Sakura made an exasperated noise, and sat down on a bench tiredly. She had been chasing these orphaned semi-wild kittens for ages, and she still hadn't caught one. They'd readily come up to her grandmother's back door and eat the food she put out, but when she came out, they scattered.

What she needed what another person's help so she could corner them easier. But everybody else was on a mission. Well, she revised that. Everybody who would be willing to help was on a mission.

She remembered when she was little, how she would reach her small hand into the crack in the wood pile and pull the kitten out as gently as possible. And to a little kid, gentle wasn't so gentle. She'd grab a leg and pull it out protesting. And it got away every time to! But she didn't do that now.

A person sat down beside her. "hn."

She brightened. "Sasuke-kun! Would you help me catch some kittens?"

Sasuke didn't say anything for a moment. Sakura waited for a response, but he just shrugged. She was about to drag him along any how, but spotted Shikamaru.

"Shikamaru! Could you come here for a second?" Sakura asked. Shikamaru muttered something under his breath, but came over anyhow. As he neared, Sasuke glared at him.

"Nevermind Sakura, I'll help you catch those kittens."

Sakura gently tickled the stomach of one of the kittens, whose eyes were wide. Smiling gently, she set it down in it's box, and petted it until it gradually calmed down.

She had only wanted to catch one. It just happened to be Smudge, the one kitten who'd stay eating until her hand was 5 inches away and then scamper away.

Looking up, she beamed at Sasuke, catching him in a tight hug.

"Arigato Sasuke! Arigato very much!"

What surprised her the most was that he hugged her back.

"Your welcome Sakura."

As they stood there, she smiled. It had taken until she learned how to catch a kitten gently for her to catch one. It had been the same with Sasuke. When she stopped trying to force him to like her, even though it had taken time, he'd come.

Realizing she was comparing Sasuke to a kitten, she started laughing. Sasuke looked at her weirdly, and she shook her head at him.

When she imagined him with cat ears the laughing didn't stop for a long time.

---

Aria-chan: It's short, it's nothing much, but ah well.

I had wild cats living under a shed in my backyard, and the mother abandoned one and it just was meowing so loudly all the time! So we finally caught her and got her all fixed up and everything, and she was so tiny! KAWAII DESU!

Ja ne!


End file.
